Genesee Brew House serves up meals and beers

Dec. 19, 2012

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The Genesee Brew House exudes the sense that this is the heartbeat of historic Rochester, where High Falls gave early industrialists the power to turn this fledgling mill town into the Flour City. / RICH PAPROCKI

As a water-sipping gal in a tunic with a full head of hair but no ponytail, I was clearly in the minority at the new Genesee Brew House. Yet I could not have felt more at home.

The Genesee Brew House exudes the sense that this is the heartbeat of historic Rochester, where High Falls gave early industrialists the power to turn this fledgling mill town into the Flour City. Beer was also an important part of Rochester’s early economy, with more than 20 breweries dotting the landscape in the 1860s.

The new Brew House, along with the most recent attempts to revive the High Falls district such as the Greentopia Festival and GardenAerial project for the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge, might generate enough power to actually revive this long-downtrodden section of the city.

The refurbished 108-year-old building, once a bottling plant for the long-defunct Standard Brewing Co., includes a microbrewery, tasting bar, gift shop and miniature museum on the first floor, a 165-seat pub and patio on the second floor and a rooftop patio on the third.

In other words, it’s far more than just a lunch stop — but lunch is an excellent reason to stop in. The Brew House restaurant is a wide-open expanse with brick walls, wood-beamed ceilings, and bar seating that runs 40-plus feet. Lots of natural light flows in, and while the general noise level is high, it’s not intolerable.

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Wings? Check. Beef on ’weck? Check. Zweigle’s hot dogs? Check (but ouch, it’s $7). Garbage plate? The Brew House offers its interpretation as a special early in the week.

The open kitchen is small, which limits the range and depth of foods served. Right now, it’s three hot sandwiches, four cold sandwiches and burgers and chicken breast from the grill: all $9 each with chips.

Giant meal-sized salads ($8) are the healthiest option on the menu, but the beer-cheddar bisque ($4) and Bavarian pretzels with a cheddar sauce featuring Dundee Pale Ale ($9) seem to be the most popular appetizers. Restaurant manager Aaron Furtner tells me more entrée-style meals will be introduced in the future.

My lunch was a vegetarian black bean burger on a whole wheat roll ($9) with lettuce, tomato and a side of kettle chips and spicy guacamole. It stayed in burger form only before eating: one bite and it shattered, making me thankful for a fork and knife. I also had a side salad ($4) of mixed greens, croutons, cucumbers and tomatoes.

If you’re just here for the beer, I recommend first stopping at the 10-tap tasting bar, where $2 will get you a generous sampling of four beers and a feel-good moment knowing that part of that cash goes to a local charity. The bar overlooks the tanks where small batch beer-making is done. At any given time, the pilot brewery has three new beers on tap. Or you can simply sip some nostalgia, such as Genny Cream Ale or 12-Horse.

Upstairs, the microbrews cost $5 a pint, while budget-minded Genesee and Dundee beers are in the $3 to $4 range.

Bring your camera and get some fresh air on the rooftop patio if weather allows. This is one view of Rochester that you won’t want to miss.

Or if you want to stay inside, the first floor museum has a fascinating interactive map of Rochester beer history, some great old Genesee advertisements and bottles.